By Sue Kempf
As we approach the Fourth of July holiday weekend, excitement grows in the City of Laguna Beach. This is the height of summer in our beautiful town and as we watch the City’s fireworks display reflect over the waters of our stunning coastal community, we realize how lucky we are to live here.
We ask you to leave the fireworks to the professionals at the City and remind everyone that all kinds of fireworks are always illegal within the City of Laguna Beach. This includes “Safe and Sane” type fireworks that may be legal to purchase in other cities. The Laguna Beach Police Department, Fire Department, and Marine Safety Departments will have extra officers working over the Fourth of July weekend looking for fireworks violations.
If you see or hear illegal fireworks being used in Laguna Beach, please call our non-emergency hotline at 949-497-0701. Our dispatchers will alert officers to the area that the fireworks are occurring. With our dry winter, and two recent nearby wildfires, we cannot take any chances and must remain vigilant against the threat of wildfire in our community.
We are anticipating large crowds for the holiday and requesting the public’s cooperation to ensure a safe and enjoyable environment for our residents and visitors. Our Laguna Beach City Departments are coordinating planning efforts for the Independence Day holiday weekend and the City is working with Orange County Sheriff’s Department, OC Lifeguards, and OC Parks to ensure all areas in and around Laguna Beach are safe.
The City fireworks show will originate from Monument Point at Heisler Park and will begin at approximately 9 p.m. on July 4. The Monument Point area will be closed all day and at approximately 5 p.m., the area of Heisler Park from Myrtle Street to the Rockpile Beach stairs at Jasmine Street will be closed to the public to allow for fireworks preparation.
City Trolleys will operate under a modified schedule on July 4 as the Coastal Route will run from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and the Canyon Route from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The normal trolley schedule will resume on Tuesday, July 5. After the fireworks show, we can expect heavy traffic as many visitors will be leaving via Laguna Canyon Road and Coast Highway. Members of the Police Department will be conducting increased traffic control to facilitate the flow of vehicles out of town. For traffic and emergency updates sign up for Nixle by texting 92651 to 888-777.
The Laguna Beach Police Department, Fire Department, Public Works, and Marine Safety Departments have all increased staffing for the holiday to ensure you have a safe and enjoyable holiday including having fire investigators on duty and staffing an additional ambulance. Speaking of our ambulances, we are excited to be launching an in-house City-operated ambulance service on Friday! The Fire Department has purchased three 2022 state of the art ambulances to include the highest level of medical equipment and ensure the best care to the community. Eighteen new Ambulance Operators have been hired to work alongside the Laguna Beach Fire Department paramedics on all medical 911 calls. These 18 new employees attended an extensive Ambulance Academy designed to prepare all the new Ambulance Operators for challenges of the position. The new Fire Department Ambulances will be staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and will be located at Laguna Beach Fire Station 1 and Station 4 with an additional surge ambulance ready for response at Laguna Beach Fire Station 2.
Here is wishing all of you a safe and enjoyable Independence Day weekend!
Sue is the Laguna Beach mayor and has served as a city councilmember since 2018.
